Monday, March 15, 2010

When it comes down to it, blogging. Is it really worth it. I’ve been giving you guy’s week after week upcoming movies, Award ceremonies, and even a review. So when it comes down to it: is Blogging actually helpful, or is it a worthless outlet. Just a week ago a read to different bloggers who talked about how much blogging as helped..or hurt the internet. Dustin Rushkoff believed that “your success will be directly dependent on your ability to create excuses for people to talk to one another. For the real measure of content’s quality is its ability to serve as a medium” while Neal Talbot believed that these “litter boxes” aka blogs are pretty much useless and are just outlets for people to whine and complain.

He also said that “Now that ordinary people are mimicking the crap of the talented, the uselessness of weblogs is becoming even more apparent”. To a degree he is right, everyone believes that they could be basically bad mouth each other and call it a “blog Post”. I have seen some different types of blogs, vlog’s and web post were people try to act “intelligent” yet aren’t.

Both of these guys had a LOT of things different but the one that was most important had to have been substance. Blogs need substance, ideas, opinions, etc. I believe anyone can start a job: but only an imaginative mind can keep the substance going for weeks on end. A blog I was following this whole time, themovieblog.com definitely has substance. I love looking up the site everyday to find some interesting movie news or trailer releases. Also how well they balance movie reviews reminds me that they aren’t playing favorites but actually rating what a film deserves. And of course the engine behind the site? Blogger’s. Even though blogging is a relatively new concept it is spreading like wild fire.

My thoughts? Blogs are actually helpful. Ever since I started doing these post of movie’s I felt pretty good giving others the news and what’s going on in the world. I was always an outgoing person anyways but I’m nervous of talking to a crowd. For the past few weeks I actually enjoyed looking up the movie’s ESPECIALLY the awards. Blogging has given me an outside persona from the norm. So the question is can I provide substance to the masses? And if you’re a true blogger. The answer is a definite yes. I would like to thank you guys for contributing to my post each week, after this post I will be on a break. A return? Perhaps. But then again, smash hit movies always have a sequel.Ruskoff,Douglas “The Internet is not killing of the conversation but actively encouraging it..We got Blog”, MA: Persuasive Pub 2002. 116-118.

What’s your favorite movie? Mines have to be Jurassic Park. What makes it so entertaining for me is was how the archeologist and the rest of the group barely escaped the raptors and got off the island just in time. To many people that would be considered a cliché because the hero always escapes at the last minute and recently I read through another bloggers post and he felt the same. John Campea over at themovieblog.com created a post about 4 years ago stating the “8 Thing I’m Sick of Seeing in Movie’s”.

He felt that Directors have become to accustom to trends and Hollywood endings. I for one, believe that a cliché every once and while can be helpful for an audience. We deal with so much trash in real life I don’t think we need to be reminded in the movie’s of if. Here are a few examples of Campea’s cliché’s.

Campea’s first cliché: The current boyfriend/husband of the main character’s would be love interest is a total jerk.

His grip was that in most cases be an insensitive guy who yells and basically treats his girlfriend horrible. John says that 9 times out of ten the girl you’re into will most likely stay with that guy for the reasons of peer pressure. True statement, but as I stated earlier sometimes we need to be reminded that an average guy does have the opportunity to score with a popular girl. In life, how many times does the guy actually get the hottest girl in school, or in the city? Barely? I’ve been through a few of those moments growing up, and I believe the fact that if one guy somewhere can actually become the girl’s love interest, despite the odds, I think that would be a win to all guys. Whether it be a movie or not.

Next cliché: A fight breaks out in a bar/restaurant, EVERYONE will jump in.

He described that if at anytime a bar fight would erupt then for some reason everyone would then join in. John stated that he been through a few bars and seen his fair share of them. But anytime a fight does break out, not only do people not join the fight, but the bouncer/security removes both parties immediately. In my belief the reason why bar fight Cliché is still around because of how “over the top” it really is. In real life we will probably never see an out of control bar fight, but every once and awhile, the audience needs excitement, and a broken glass bottle to the head usually does the trick.

Cliché’s at times can be an eye-roller especially with drama’s or action flicks. But to me, in real life, The last thing I want to do is be remembered that life is mostly one-sided and of course, the “bad guy” or always wins. For instance, as a kid growing up I had problems getting along with kids in elementary school. I’m ok with making friends, but the fact of them being true friends was the problem. I remember sometimes watching movies such as Rugrats and Space Jam because in those films, you had true buddies. That’s what I like about movies, the fact that I can watch a storyline and say: “wow maybe it is possible”. Day-to-Day I have to be reminded of life’s unfortunate moments. In the past I had problems with relationships, finding a job for tuition, making sure me and my mother are living comfortably and in the future it will happen, that’s life. But what keeps me separated from serenity and going crazy, is the fact that I can watch a movie wheather it be forty-five minutes or even an hour, and feel free. Don’t need to be reminded about, work, or making sure grades are high enough for scholarship. When I’m in the movie, all that matters to me is: What will happen next?

I understood where John was coming from, there things we all get sick of seeing in movies. There are moments were have to roll my eyes over the fact of obvious clichés. Things like “the idiot friend bias” where for some reason the best friend of the main character is either a jokester or completely unneeded. Even the cliché at the end of romantic movies the guy looks straight into the girls eyes, stares for a minute and just say “I love You”. So believe me I understand where Campea is coming from. I’m not against the guy or anything, but I personally felt that there are some cliché’s that can have us leaving the theater feeling positive. Even though we grow more hardened to what the world throws at us, I believe every now and then it’s good to see the underdog win.

To throw a bone for anyone who feels the hate for cliche's here is a very funny trailer for a

Hey there people out their in Movie Land this is Earl and This will be a start of my final two post for a while. If you look at the list of my post you will find a 2nd post. These two were special topics that I have been thinking about as of lately. In the first part I will talk about how exactly movies and I have a bond, since early beginnings.

I have a personal question for you guys. What was one of the first films you seen growing up that you were so fascinated with growing up? I mean the one where you wanted to always watch it over and over again. For me Space Jam was my partner in crime. Why you might ask? .When I was a kid I was an only child so most times it would be just my mother and I. Fortunately I had some buddies in my neighborhood to keep me company after school. But as most of you know that couldn’t do the trick always, not that they weren’t good friends, but sometimes that even got old. But the one thing I know could..movies .To be honest the movie that probably has had the biggest impact growing up, and still a favorite, is probably Space Jam. It had a bit of real life and animation mixed into one movie and had the story was centered around real life professional basketball player Michael Jordan coming out of retirement to help save the world by competing against a group of aliens in a game of 5-on-5 basketball. The movie had a little of everything; funny storyline, Warner Brothers cartoon characters and of course superstars like Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan.

What made it an inspirational movie to me was how reminded me that it is possible achieving the milestones that athletes like M.J if a kid from Chicago can make a way to a professional career , then any of us can too. I remember when I first saw it for the first time. No one could even speak let alone come between me and the storyline. I was always so tuned into the movie until puberty and life began rearing its head and soon the movie became just a flashback. See I loved how whenever Im feeling emotionally down, or disappointed at something I can just pop in the tape and fall back into the world of Loony Toons. Whether it be Bug’s Bunny trying to be the mediator, Daffy; the wanna-be hero, or Jordan, their saving grace,

I feel like anytime I need help, their there. I see the movie Awhile back (during summer) as I was going through things for college I ran into a few old memorabilia and of course “Space Jam”. I had downtime to watch it and automatically fell back into my youth. Watching it all over again I began to reflect over favorite scenes. Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny running through M.J.’s house, and when they had the big basketball game at the end scenes brought back the fun memories of movies and growing up.

This was one of the reasons I made a blog about movies: reminding us the joys and thrill of a great film whether it be Star Wars or The Rugrats as individuals seem to have a connection to old time greats. Actually movies at a young age had such a hold on me I felt maybe it was possible to become something or someone so important that the world would one day need my help. In a way, Space Jam is connected to my past career choices (archeologist, scientist, firefighter) and probably why I made a choice to become a teacher. Space Jam to me is like an old buddy I haven’t seen in ages, even though you’re not around that buddy, you still have a connection. Space Jam is just that, my connection to a calmer world. So what are some of your “Personal Buddies”

Monday, March 8, 2010

It's been a minute since my last post due to some sickness but it's good, it's all good. The Oscar's were yesturday and to tell you the truth.. It dragged on for me. I don't know if it were the inside jokes Steve Martin and Alex Bladwin or the mini song and dance they did for about 5 minutes. Either way I was getting a little antsy on Best movie, Actor,Actress etc. So at the end of the post I will leave you a link to the nights winners and stuff if anyone was interested.

Alright highlight #1 Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz won the award for his nazi general (don't quote me on that) in the movie Inglorious Bastards. Didn't see it, the commercials were basically shoved in my face for the whole month before it came out. I here it was actually a good film so ill check it out on DVD. What made this a highlight was not just him winning but the acceptance speech was very emotional. You could tell he was honored to he be introduced in the movie let alone nominated for his part. So he gets highlight #1 for emotion.

Award Highlight #2: Best Supporting Actress: Monique. Dispite the fact this movie will go straight to her ego I will say this: good job. You barely see comedians even get into serious roles due to the stereocast of the genre, and she was nominated for her first serious role? wow. you don't see stuff like that happen very often espically at the Academy Awards.

Award Highlight #3. Best Actor: Jeff Bridges.. To tell you the truth, I wanted The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner win this award because he's been in hollywood for like 20 years? and this is his first nomination? wtf . Then I started thinking: Jeff Bridges, old actor, freaking country singer, and did I say old?. Idk not saying he didn't do a good job but, Im on the fence about this one

Award Highlight #4. Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow.. wow I actually spelled it right. This had to have been an emotional moment due to the fact of her being the first women director to win an oscar for directing. This was probably one of the major highlights of the night. James Cameron's response? he mouthed the words "yes. yes" happy for the fact his ex. She acted like she stole something you know bouncing around, sweating, nervous and crap. I guess she didn't think it would happen?

And the #5 and thee highlight of the night Best Movie:The Hurt Locker... I said it would win about 3 blog post ago and it actually happened. I'm glad they won, they are considered a independent film, and it was first in Europe and Germany before the US. I'm happy for their success and hope that a studio will pick up the film. And that they stop getting sued.

Alight that about sums the night. if you want to see the list of winners view it here